tions which never came. Had they acted without them he would
probably have repudiated their action, but as they did not act, he
blamed them for his loss, accused them of dishonesty and removed his
account, vowing never to have dealings with them again if he could avoid
it, and always putting them to the greatest inconvenience when he was
compelled to deal with or through them.

Now, by an irony of fate, he was forced to have dealings with them
again, dealings which he resented for more reasons than his antagonism
to the institution, and dealings, moreover, which he was prepared to
leave no stone unturned to bring to naught.

He had placed Waroona Downs in the hands of Gale, the local auctioneer,
for sale. The one condition he had imposed was that the purchaser should
be a resident of the district, a condition he had considered ample to
prevent the property passing into the possession of one of the
opposite--and hated--sex. Yet that condition had failed. A purchaser had
been found, a purchaser for whom the bank was acting, and a purchaser
who, while being a resident in the district, was also a woman.

Dudgeon--"Crotchety Dudgeon" as he was termed by his neighbours, who,
despite his wealth, usually regarded him as being of no account in the
general scheme of Nature--had done his best to repudiate the bargain;
had blustered and fumed, threatening actions and penalties against all
and sundry, but in vain. The bank officials were polite, listening to
all he had to say in silence and only speaking in cold, precise, formal
phrases to reiterate the intention of the purchaser to hold to her
bargain, and the readiness of the bank to complete, on her behalf, the
transaction.

He refused to meet or see her, but he could not help hearing of her, and
what he heard only served to stimulate his resentment, for her name,
Nora Burke, recalled memories of his Irish rival O'Guire, while the
bitterness of his surrender to the charms of Kitty Lambton was revived
when he understood that Mrs. Burke also belonged to the fascinating type
of woman.

She had, he learned, the coal-black hair of the Western Irish, and
grey-blue eyes which flickered and flashed behind thick dark lashes.
What her other features were he did not hear, for her wealth of hair and
the charm of her eyes carried all before them. But, as a matter of fact,
no other feature was conspicuously beautiful, and it was difficult to
realise where the charm of her face rested unti